Keep Hope Alive
by FinchelAngst
Summary: It all happened so fast. One moment Finn Hudson was on top of the world, and the next thing he knows the world starts to come to an end. Will he be able to find hope in a world that always crushes it? Or will he let this new world get the better of him?


**Welcome to my very first story! I've written quite a few different ones but I've never had the courage to post one. But finally I've decided this one is good enough to post. I'd love some feedback, but be kind please! ;)**

 **This will indeed be a Finchel story, but we probably won't see Rachel until chapter** **3 or 4. But don't worry, plenty of Finchel will come!**

 **I also wanted to dedicate this story to Cory Monteith, one half of my favourite on-screen/off-screen couple that brought so much happiness to my life. Forever my idol, love you Cory!**

 **I don't own Glee (or Walking Dead which is my other inspiration for this story, and from which I will take a lot of concepts) so please don't sue me XD.**

 **Hope you all enjoy this story and don't forget to favourite/follow/or review this story!**

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He can't remember the last time he had a hot dinner. Or the last time he slept in a warm bed. He can't even remember what it felt like to feel safe. What he can remember is the last time he saw his father. It was six months ago to this exact day when they first heard the news broadcast.

 _It was a beautiful sunny summer day, he was riding in the back of his dad's Chevy with the window pulled all the way down and wind blowing through his short-cut hair. Journey's "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" was playing on the radio as his dad sat in the front seat, his moms hand clutched tightly in his own as they smiled at each other. They'd just come from the final football game of the season, where he had led them to victory with a touchdown in the final thirty seconds of the game._

 _He'd never forget that look of sheer pride on his parents' faces when his teammates lifted him up into their arms and proceeded to carry him back to the locker room. His parents were right there in the front row, clapping their hands with gigantic smiles on their faces._

 _It was the perfect end to the last game of his high school career, standing there amid his best friends and family, feeling like everything was right in the world. He should've known it wouldn't have lasted. Nothing ever lasts._

 _The moment things changed was a moment that would be ingrained in his brain for the rest of his life._

 _There they were, on their way home late at night, driving through their neighbourhood and swerving into their driveway. The street lamps illuminated the area and bathed it in a warm orange light._

 _Opening the door, he hopped out and was momentarily frightened when he saw a figure waiting next to the mailbox._

 _"Hi sweetie." His mom smiled kindly, waving to the young woman who was clearly waiting for him. "You go talk to her, you dad and I will be inside. I'll start cutting the cake. We're proud of you." She pulled him over and kissed his cheek._

 _"We are son. I can't wait to see the wonderful man you're going to become." He dad had come around to their side of the car, patting him on the shoulder._

 _He grinned back at his parents. "Thanks guys, I couldn't have done it without you there with me." His mom wiped her eyes and squeezed his hand, letting his dad slowly pull her back to the house as they smiled in pride at their son._

 _With his parents heading back inside, he turned to the woman waiting for him a few feet away._

 _"Hi." She smiled shyly, her beautiful blonde hair shining in the light of the street lamp._

 _He blew out a breath, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked closer to her. "Hey you. I didn't see ou after the game."_

 _She shrugged, playing with the hem of her white lace dress. "Some of the girls wanted to go out to dinner as a kind of last hurrah. I figured I'd go since it's the last time I'll probably see most of them. We're all going to different colleges."_

 _Finn gulped, nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah, some of the guys kinda imposed themselves on my dinner with my parents." He chuckled._

 _She let out a little giggle before shifting closer to him. "I just came by to tell you that I'm proud of you. You were a real leader out on that field tonight. You really brought the entire school together. Mckinley is sure as hell going to miss their star quarterback huh?"_

 _He kicked up some stray dirt. "Not to brag, but yeah they probably will."_

 _She laughed outright at that. "There's no denying it. But I bet Columbus are sure glad they snagged you in time. You're going to kick ass next year."_

 _"That's the plan." He took a deep breath, all the feelings for this girl rushing back. "You know, there are going to be some things I'm going to miss about high school."_

 _Her eyebrow lifted and the corners of her mouth rose a little in surprise. "Oh yeah? And what would that be?" She challenged, moving so close to him that their lips were almost touching._

 _He didn't answer, instead, he started moving closer, just about to close the space between their lips when a sudden scream interrupted them._

 _"FINN!"_

 _They both shot apart instantly. His stomach dropped at the sound of his mothers voice. That wasn't the voice she used when he was in trouble. That was the voice she used when she was in panic, like the time Finn got his first football injury and ended up in the hospital with a broken rib._

 _"C'mon." He mumbled, reaching for her hand to bring her inside, taking off at almost a run. Clearly something had his mother spooked or freaked out._

 _They came into the house and found his mother and father both staring at the television. His dad was as pale as ghost and his mom had one hand over her heart and the other over her mouth._

 _"M-mom what's wrong?" Finn asked, not liking the look of terror and dread present on her face. She didn't answer him, merely pointing to the tv screen as his ears adjusted to the sound of a solemn sounding news broadcaster._

 _"This was followed by gun fire, lots of gun fire. We're uh, trying to get confirmation from the authorities but we can't seem to get ahold of them." There was a pause before the man shakily continued and a woman appeared on screen to give him a sheet of paper._

 _"Y-yes, okay. We now have confirmed reports of a virus outbreak in New York, San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago, and- god, reports from all over the country. Including one from right here in Columbus. I'm being told to advise citizens to stay indoors. I repeat, under no circumstances are citizens allowed to step outdoors, when you hear a knock at your door, it should be the authorities waiting to take you to a safe house. Until then, it is advised that you-"_

 _The broadcast went out then, and all that was visible was the gray screen with the words 'stand-by'._

 _Nobody said a word, there was a deafening silence so utterly quiet that it made Finn's ears ring._

 _It was only broken when someone suddenly lunged for the door, prepared to leave. "No, Quinn!" His dad reached for the young girl, lifting her off the ground and preventing her from going out the door._

 _His mom was crying as Quinn kicked the air and tried to squirm out of his dads' arms._

 _Finn was still confused and scared, so scared, but he put out his arm and tried to calm Quinn down. "Hey, hey. They said we can't go outside. We aren't going to let you go out there when it's not safe."_

 _His dad nodded in agreement. A crash and a scream sounded from outside and his dad looked over at him, sending a dark look to his only son._

 _"I don't care! I have to see my family, I have to. Did you hear what that man just said?! There's a chance I could never see them again!" Quinn shouted, tears streaming down her face._

 _His dad still shook his head firmly. "No Quinn, we're not letting you go out there. Now please, please be quiet. I think there's something outside."_

 _"No! Let me go! I need my family, please! I have to see them!" Quinn screamed, her fear and her need to see her family getting the better of her._

 _Finn tried to take over and grab her from his dad so the latter could go peek out the window, see what the ruckus was about._

 _But Quinn took advantage of the momentary loss of steady hands on her and elbowed Finn in the stomach, stepping on his dads' foot in the process as she bolted for the door again. This time, she succeed in prying it open and the screams from outside for louder._

 _"Quinn! Don't go, please!" Finn screamed, lunging for her but missing._

 _She shook her head, tears still streaming down her face. "I'm sorry Finn. I can't lose any more of my family. I have to be with them." And with that, she ran for it, somewhere into the dark mass of chaos that was going on outside._

 _His mom seemed to have gained her wits back because she slammed the door shut and locked it just as his dad grabbed for him, holding him back._

 _"Quinn! Quinn!" Finn screamed, his heart thumping and his stomach in a thousand knots._

 _"There's nothing you can do son, she made her choice. We just have to hope she'll be okay." His dad whispered, his voice cracking._

 _Finn gave up, slumping on the floor as he let the tears fall. He didn't know it then, but that would be the last time he'd ever see Quinn Fabrāy._

 _His dad rushed over to peek behind the curtain. "Jesus fucking Christ." He cursed under his breath, the way his hands were shaking was making Finn feel sick to his stomach._

 _His mom came over and pulled him against her. She was the only source of comfort he could find right now and she knew it._

 _His dad turned off the lights and they sat in silence, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves. And it was there they say for hours, trembling with fear, not knowing what was going on outside or if they'd even be alive to see the next sunrise._

 _The torturous sounds of screaming, moaning, and the emergency siren were only interrupted by the additional sound of gunfire. It was an eerie silence that followed, and Finn nearly jumped out of his skin when a knock sounded on their door._

 _His dad practically ran to the door and was greeted by a young man in an army uniform, gun by his side and blood covering the left side of his leg._

 _"Please evacuate outside, follow the line of people and we'll make sure you're taken care of. But first, are any of you bitten?" The man was very formal but quick, the fear in his eyes betraying the steadiness of his voice._

 _His dad glanced back at them before turning back to the man. "No, none of us are bit. But can you tell us what's going on, please." He begged._

 _"I'm sorry sir, I don't have the time, please just go outside and follow the line. All your questions should be answered soon." And with that, he bolted. He was no doubt heading for the next house to request the same of that family._

 _Finn and his mom were practically frozen in fear on the ground, so his dad gently grabbed them both by the arm and pulled them up. "Come on. You heard the boy. We have to get to safety."_

 _He was jogging on shaky legs, and the large crowd of people outside weren't fairing much better. There were babies, young children that were crying. Parents were trying to shush their kids without losing it themselves. Some people were just quiet, staring ahead with their loved ones clung tight to them._

 _A particular scream rang out above the rest, and Finn whipped his head around to a young couple who were surrounded by three army men, one of which had a gun pointed at the man._

 _The girl was screaming and pleading with the man with the gun, but he was having none of it. He ordered one of the other men to take the girl away and Finn watched as she was dragged away. It gave him a clear view though, of the large and bloody bite wound on the man's leg._

 _Finn watched with dread and shock as the army man shot the young man right in the head, silencing his pleads and whimpers. Finn was numb, it felt like the world was spinning around him as he was shoved into the ground, keeping his grip tight on his mothers' hand._

 _He looked ahead and saw that they were being hearded towards a group of buses waiting just outside the neighbourhood._

 _The group got larger and larger until he could barely move his arms, and the line only shank every few minutes before getting stuffed again._

 _Gun shots rang out yet again as a large herd came at them, the people in the back screaming and pushing the rest of the group even more into eachother. It was utter chaos as some people began running all around, the area to get away from the herd of bloody looking people that were coming at them._

 _They were zombies. Like actual fucking zombies. Bloody, limping, undead, limb-missing zombies. Almost right out of his video games, but real._

 _But then it happened, almost in slow motion. One of the very young army men to his left braced himself closer to the pack of zombies, pulling out a grenade and chucking it at them._

 _What he didn't account for was one of the zombies to break apart from the pack and come right for him, knocking him down and ripping right through his throat, blood dripping everywhere._

 _He knew it was going to happen before it even did. His dad had been a soldier in the U.S army so it was in his blood. His dad let go of his mothers hand, running towards the dropped grenade that was ready to blow any second. Finn and his mom screamed his name, but he ignored them, prepared to rescue his family._

 _The clip had already been pulled so he quickly picked it up, hurrying towards the crowd of blood-thirsty creatures._

 _It was this moment knew things were moving in slow motion, his dad looked back at him and his mom as if to say he loved them. Then he threw it, the grenade exploding the moment it left his hand._

 _What he hadn't account for, was the strength of this grenade. It was unlike any grenade he'd used himself in the army so it ended up blowing anyone near them backwards._

 _He looked over at his mother in fear and she squeezed his hand, assuring him that she loved him. He squeezed back to return the sentiment, not knowing if he'd be alive in the next few minutes._

 _The last thing Finn remembered before passing out was his mom's hand slowly leaving his own as they were blown backwards._

 _xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

 _Finn cough violently as he opened his eyes. Everything around him was blurry and his hearing felt off. As each second passed by, his hearing and vision came back to him. The first sounds he heard was people crying, some people still screaming, and then more gunfire before his eyes noticed the movement around him._

 _He was startled when he felt a pair of hands wrap around his arms, dragging him backwards. He was able to look around him and was terrified to see that his mother was nowhere to be seen._

 _"Help!" Finn screamed and kicked his legs, automatically assuming the worst was happening._

 _"Hey son, calm down. We're going to get you out of here." The calm voice came from behind him, allowing him to breath easier._

 _"Wait! Where's my mom?! Do you know where my mom is? Carole Hudson, her name is Carole Hudson." Finn blubbered, standing up on shaking legs as he was forced into the bus._

 _"She's probably on one of the buses son. We're getting everyone who's still alive and pulling them onto buses." The man said, pushing him up the stairs and patting the side of the bus to alert the driver to go on ahead._

 _He looked around at everyone on the bus and didn't see her, getting back up and trying to get off the bus. He was stopped by another member of the army who was stationed at the door. "I'm sorry boy, no one else gets on or off this bus."_

 _"But my mom! I have to find my mom!" Finn shouted, lunging at the man and the door. The large man easily held him back though. "You'll have to wait until we get to the safe house. If she's alive, she'll be there." He assured Finn._

 _Before Finn could say another word, a voice behind him stopped him in his tracks. "Finn?"_

 _He whipped around and was met with the eyes of his best friend Noah Puckerman. "P-Puck?" He stuttered._

 _Puck glanced at the army man before tugging Finn with him to the empty seat he had just occupied._

 _It was a weird moment between the two young men. Finn had gotten a decent look at who was on the bus and didn't recognize anyone. Which means Puck didn't have his family either._

 _The two glanced at eachother before Finn pulled him in for a hug. Now, they didn't like to show affection usually, but this felt like a special circumstance._

 _"Your mom and your sister?" Finn whispered, his stomach lurching as the bus began moving forward._

 _Puck looked down, dirt covering his face and blood on his shirt. "They um, they're gone. T-those things got them." Puck sniffled and wiped his eyes._

 _Finn's heart broke for his friend. "What about you?" Puck wouldn't look Finn in the eyes and he knew it was because Puck hated it when people saw him cry._

 _"My dad's gone." Finn whispered hollowly, tears springing to his own eyes. "He threw the grenade at those things. And my mom... I don't know what happened to her."_

 _Puck nodded, swiping a hand under his eyes. "I was wondering who took out those things. I saw that idiot army dude get attacked before throwing the grenade. The last I saw was it on the ground before I was knocked over." Puck nodded, leaning his head back against the seat. "And your mom, did you see her body?"_

 _Finn shook his head. "No. I looked around everywhere when I was being pulled away. I didn't see her."_

 _"That means she's alive. They probably just pulled her onto another bus." Puck assured him, making him feel marginally better._

 _Finn nodded, copying Puck and leaning back against the seat too. This whole night had been a whirlwind to him. Nothing seemed real._

 _Just hours ago he was happy, driving home with his parents and about to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend. He'd heard about the outbreaks on the news but they'd never seemed that severe._

 _And his dad. God he couldn't even bare to think about his dad, who'd just lost his life to save everyone else's._

 _He didn't know where his mom was and he'd lost everyone else he held dear. Puck was the only person he had right now. The only person he had left._

 _It was then that he let himself cry, much like everyone else on the bus. Even Puck had turned towards the window and was sniffling. Finn was feeling so much at once he was just numb._

 _He'd never experienced such dread and hopelessness before. The smell of stale blood and urine hung in the air and the only sound that could be heard was the rumbling of the bus and people crying._

 _They'd been driving longer than Finn could even keep track of, it was still dark outside and when the bus driver leaned slightly to tell the army guard something, there was a sudden and loud thump against the front of the bus._

 _Everyone who had fallen into a restless sleep were suddenly awake, wondering what was going on._

 _The thumps were getting more and frequent and the bus driver was freaking out. Finn was too until he realized that what they were hitting was the zombies. They were all smacking right against the front of the bus, creating a sheen of blood across the bottom of the windshield._

 _It must've impaired the drivers vision because the next moment he swerved to the side to avoid a car parked on their side road, the bus spinning out of control. People were screaming, children were crying, and others were frozen in fear._

 _For the second time that night, Finn found himself being thrown around before his head whipped to the side against Puck's own head and he passed out. The scene before him faded and he wondered this time if he was actually dead._

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 **Hope you all enjoyed this first chapter! They will all vary in length, but I expect they will all be around 2,000-4,000 words. Anyways, buckle up for a wild and at times depressing ride!**


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